All that I was asking is if there was another dash that roughly fit in the hole and if anybody else had done this. My original dash was completely shot. The foam was toast, I removed th viyl and foam and glue and the underlying plastic is all cracked. All of the plastic trim pieces crumbled as soon as I touched them. I have no radio bezel and I don't plan on getting rid of the car for a long time and I don't want to have this problem again in a couple of years. Also there are no available dashes in my area, or any other parts for this car for that matter. I called my local mazda dealership and they no longer offer parts for this car. The possibility exists for covering the old dash with felt and fiberglass resin, however all of the vents would need to be redone, including where th dash meets the door. This is not my area of expertise. the car is in great mechanical shape, the body is good, less a couple of small dents that I can repair easily and quickly and paint is not an issue I have the skills and tools to give the car an excellent paint job. I am , however waiting untill I find the right body kit and good Turbo II hood before I do any of that. I just need to figure out an economical and acctractive solution for the dash. I have had 2 91 240SX's and I liked the dash and the emergency brek location is somewhat correct and there are many donor cars in the local junkyards to get goor parts from cheap. I appreciate those of you that didi offer some advice, especially the pics of the s13 dash in place, that gives me the confidence to take this part of the project on soon. I will post pics and ppossibly video of this workin when it's done in a couple weeks.

 

No dealership is going to keep much stock for a 20+ year old car on hand, but they should be able to order parts for you. You might try downloading the original parts fiches, looking up the part numbers, then giving those numbers to the parts department when you call. Many of the dash trim pieces are still available, though if you start buying them brand new, they do add up pretty quickly in cost. For example, I ordered a brand new radio/dash vent bezel recently and it was about $90 I think. But it's nearly impossible to find an uncracked S4 bezel...

What about looking in the Classified section of this forum to see who's parting out a car?

 

When I called the dealer they said they could no longer get the parts at all. And as I said I don't want to put in another rotten, crakcing, crumbling, 20+ year old dash in the car. While I know an s13 is nearly as old, they are not prone to falling apart. I have only sen a couple of severly neglected examples with any cracking on the dash at all.

 

All I know is when i tried to take the dash out of the car, all I did was break plastic. I stripped a second car after removing the windshield, I didn't break anything. Both were 1986. No windshield= no breakage.

It's not hard to take the glass out either. 15 minutes with piano wire or the $15 kit from Harbor Freight. $15 for the windshield epoxy. done.
Or you can wrestle with wobble bits and drivers for an hour trying to get to bolts, breaking everything in the process.

it's too bad I didn't have room to keep that last dash. One one of the upper mounts were broken. everything else was good. i would have given it to you for free. Not to make you feel bad, just saying it's too bad. That's why I don't like throwing anything away. i always need it later.

 

If your dealership says they can't get parts for your car just go buy them on the internet.

I haven't tried to order one, but Mazdacomp shows the dash is available. It's $560. Given the time and energy you'd have to put into putting a 240SX dash in the car (those pictures show the dash in the car, but I wonder how many of the mounting points are used, how the electrics hook up, how the vents hook up) you could have a brand new factory Mazda dash.

As for having to remove the windshield, I removed the dash from my '87 when I was 18 and didn't know jack about working on cars. It isn't that hard if you take the seats out first.

 

you seriously do not get how complicated it is to pull this off and have it work correctly and look right.

wiring
HVAC
Gauge cluster
Service light cluster
Venting
Door panels
steering column
Shifter surround
Armrest
A-pillars
Window levers
Door handles
Clearance between the seats and the door
Dash bezel

all of this has to line up and operate correctly or your just gonna own a crappy second rate FC that looks like someone shoved the wrong junk yard dashboard inside and called it "custom".

i dont know what you have heard, but s13 dashboards are just as big a piece of **** as FC dash boards. their honestly not any better or stronger than FC's in any way. and yes they crack in the center!

this is gonna cost so much, and its not gonna give you much in return.

as you said its a 20+ year old car, they need more prudent attention then a dash board from another car.

just find another fc dash, or fix yours, it will cost you 1/8th the price.

 

bump for the fd dash, shitz would be sweet

 

The FD interior is total crap compared to the FC's.
Granted, the styling is OK, but the quality absolutely sucks...look at it wrong and **** starts breaking, just about the flimsiest interior I've ever dealt with.

 

well ive yet to deal with the FD just a couple fc's. so note to self FD interior looks stylish but = craplastic
..at least the exterior is still sexy even if the insides are fallin apart. That's what carbon fiber or carbon kevlar copies are for. Right? dunno just put a piece of sheet metal across the dash eh

 

 

how bout of piece of tread/diamond plate might be more like 4x4ish, more for like a jeep but just a thought. who doesn't want to be diff

 

+1 my I.Q. dropped 10 points.